But now I need some help, my birthday is November 20th, my husbands is November 22nd, and our anniversary is November 25th! Oh, and I forgot, Thanksgiving is thrown in there as well! I would love to make a very special dinner here at home, with all our china and crystal that we NEVER get use, and invite a few friends as well.

I love to cook, and I don't think there is recipe that I cannot tackle, I am just stumped for something really different. Any suggestions?

Welcome, kyle. A dinner to celebrate all those occasions sounds like a nice idea. Some information on your family would be great: What are their likes and dislikes? What do you feel comfortable cooking? How much preparation time will you have? What is the approximate # of guests for dinner? Do you want to serve appetizers?

I am open to any and all suggestions! There will be about 6-8 adults at this dinner party. With cocktails I would only like to serve one appetizer, too many just ruins dinner. A different salad to start of maybe, main course could be anything but fish or chicken, my husband hates both, although he will eat some shell fish(shrimp, lobster,crab).

I think I have dessert covered, my husband is a choco-holic, and I will be making a flourless chocolate cake with truffles, and for those who do not want something that rich, I will have some blood orange sections with just a drizzle of chocolate ganache. I may even dip some strawberries in chocolate as well if I can find some nice ones in November.

Why not splurge on some really good beef? Ribeyes for everyone, or a Chateaubriand (I can't remember what cut that is, but it's sooooooooo good). Some sauteed mushrooms as a side, Bearnaise sauce for the meat. Pricey, yes - but you are covering so many important milestones.

Thanks, I was leaning towards beef, hubby is a real meat and potatoes kind of guy, although after he married this italian girl, (me, yes name is Kyle but I am female, parents thought it was cute ) I have been able to get him to eat more veggies, and fresh foods over the past 16 years!

I was even thinking of a mushroom duxelle( I am sure I just spelled that wrong!) with the beef, kind of the wellington thing without the puff pastry.

Kyle, I am still working on my husband too. Sometimes I think he would eat nothing but sausage and biscuits if he could get away with it. You could always try putting some creamed mushrooms in pastry shells - you know, those things for chicken a la king.